Crossing the Georgia Strait

I took this photo at the end of the summer. It is on the BC Ferries. Once I'm finished exams, I'll be on this ferry again from Vancouver to Vancouver Island. I thought I'd post this for anyone who is also studying in Vancouver but also going back to Vancouver Island for the break.

 The view won't be as nice because it may not be sunny, but I'm still looking forward to it. It will be nice to get away from my routine and relax for a bit.

B-ham

I've completed 2/4 of my final exams. It was quite stressful but I'm relieved it's over.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to Bellingham, Washington to drop my friend off at the Bellingham International Airport. I'm really looking forward to this because I really love going to the States. I think we are only going for lunch, but we may do a quick shop too.

I'm only worried about 1 of my last two final exams. I'm worried because I missed quite a few classes for this class, so it may be difficult to study. But the other final I have to do will be fine.

All in all, I'm feeling okay, not bad but not good either.

Eye of the Storm

Well I just finished a 4000 word research paper. Luckily I selected cardiac surgery (specifically heart failure and heart transplantation). My prof said to do 3000-5000 words. I was aiming to do 4500 words but I just couldn't do that much. I was spent. Did I mention it's 3000-5000 words not including references, tables, graphs, figures, etc? I was really pushing my limits because the longest paper I've ever done is 7 pages. I know, poor me has had it so good when it comes to papers. But anyways I'm glad that's over with.

So now that's over with, I have 2 exams in the next 41 hours. I've started reviewing for both exams, but not as much as I would've liked. So the storm isn't over yet.

The eye of this storm is going to be very short lived. I haven't decided what I'm going to do tonight. That is, if I'm going to study for my first final tonight or go to sleep. If I go to sleep, I would get up early in the morning to study. Regardless, I'm feeling good because I got that paper out of the way, so right now I just feel like eating and enjoying myself and going to sleep. But I know I wouldn't enjoy myself because the sense of urgency for my exam will be kicking in soon.

Note: I tried posting this at 11pm pacific time last night but it didn't work, so I'm posting it now.

Surgery Scheduled

So I got confirmation that my surgery will be on February 5th at 7:30am. I am getting surgery to fix my breathing. I have very heavy breathing problems and can't breathe out my nose properly and have some issues breathing at night. My surgeon did otolaryngology, but he actually has a plastic surgery practice and is a plastic surgeon as well. So he asked me if I wanted any work done, and I will be getting some adjustments to my nose. My nose has a slight irregularity and it isn't super bad or super noticeable from all angles, but it has bothered me for quite some time. So I'm really excited to get this surgery done. I do think I will look better after the surgery. And since my surgery is about fixing something that's irregular rather than something normal, I feel very comfortable getting the surgery done. Some people have issues with plastic surgery, but in my case, I feel no hesitation whatsoever. The surgery costs $6000 but my brother is paying for it, with me paying him back when I can. The surgery will take place in Vancouver.

I will have to miss a week of school because of recovery time, but I scheduled it near reading break so I will only miss a few days of school. I want to go to Vancouver Island during my recovery, but I was warned I may not feel well to travel on the day of the surgery. So I will likely leave the day after the surgery. It takes about 4 hours to get from Vancouver to my mom's place on Vancouver Island, and it involves one ferry. I have a full list of instructions for 2 weeks prior and 2 weeks after the surgery. The list basically names things I can't do and things I have to do. I like anything surgery related and there may be some of you interested so I may post the instructions.

One interesting thing is that I will not be put to sleep, but will have a different anaesthetic. So I believe I will be conscious for the whole thing. I don't like the dentist, and I'm hoping it won't be like that. But since I won't feel anything, I doubt it will be like the dentist. 

Plus it's really really really cool that I get to observe my first surgery. I actually can't wait for the surgery for so many different reasons!

Note: I do not have a lot of money just because I'm getting surgery. My brother is paying for my surgery. But he contributes nothing to me for schooling. I use student loans and a couple hundred dollars each month from my mom. I have posted that I may be getting rent money from my uncle, but he has yet to inform me of that yet, so it's really up in the air. In short, I do have a tight financial situation and the surgery is an exception because my brother is paying for it.

Cash flow

So I haven't received any "no" responses towards Adsense, so I'll be applying for it. I believe people have to click on the ads for me to get paid, but I will leave it at that :P

Adsense? Yay or nay?

So my blog has recently become eligible for Adsense, which means ads could go on my blog, and every time someone clicks on an ad, I get some money.

I'm asking all of my readers for input on whether ads should go up on my blog. Obviously with my tight financial situation, any money would help me get into medicine, especially since my uncle hasn't got back to me about the rent money we are supposed to be splitting. So I'm leaning towards Adsense. But just email me at premedpostfailure@gmail.com or comment on this post to let me know whether or not ads should go up. If I don't receive a lot of no votes for Adsense, I will be submitting an application to put them up. Also note that the contents of my posts would not change with Adsense.

Possible C in sexuality?

So I wrote my 2nd midterm and got my mark 20 minutes after I finished writing it. I got a horrible 68%. I thought I did way better than that. But I'm guessing I just didn't study enough. The only problem is that my fate has potentially been sealed because the final is only worth 30%. I feel horrible about this because I wanted to have all good marks since returning to school. This kind of breaks up the upward trend pattern. Especially given that global health isn't going well, which makes matters much worst. So I could have 2 poor marks this semester. Although if I do well in the other 8 courses this year, then my average will still be over 80%. That is what I have to keep in mind because I almost really let myself get down in the dumps about these bad marks. I'm going to a non-trad premed event hosted by UBC med this weekend, and all I could think about was how I shouldn't be going because this semester won't have "doctor-like" grades. But if I remember the big picture of 8 other classes I'll be doing until April, I could still have a 85% average.

Given what's happened to my marks, I'm officially guaranteeing that I get all A+s next semester. I know I can do it and I have no reason not to succeed. The only problem I might run into is grading schemes. For example courses where an A+ is 95 and above and me doing things that aren't my strengths like essays and other subjective evaluations. So as a revision to my guarantee, I will get all A+s if most of my marks are more objective on things like tests rather than subjective things like essays. Even if it is subjective, I will work my butt off to do everything humanly possible to get an A+. I may need help from my profs or using other resources or spending more time on things. But I promise that I will try my absolute best next semester, and that is a promise I'm going to keep.